The Highs and Lows of Football Manager

Wandering to Titles – Do We Have a New Star Man? (August) Episode 50

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 5, Episode 50

We’ve reached an incredible 50 episodes of Wandering to Titles. I just wanted to thank all of you who continue to read the story. It’s been a lot of fun writing about this save. There are no plans to stop this save as of yet. I’m just going with the flow and seeing where this takes us.

As previously mentioned, I intend to use Cutrone and Goncalves as my preferred striker partnership in the opening games of this campaign.

I believe Goncalves has all the attributes to replace the goals scored by Haaland, and Cutrone is now at an age where he cannot be considered a hot prospect. He need to start delivering. He has all the attributes to do so, so I intend to give him an extended run in the side to get his confidence up. His biggest tally in the league was 9 goals back in our 2nd season. I fully expect that to be broken soon.

Financial Situation

Our financial situation has always been a bit iffy. We’ve never had a large pot of money in the bank until this summer, with a large thanks to the Haaland and Neto sales.

At the current moment, we are in a healthy position and if we continue to spend correctly, and get the right players in, we should continue to grow.

As of right now I have a £54m transfer budget left and 40% of any transfer revenue will be made available to that – but that should change for the better soon I’m sure.

Wage wise, we are spending £2,643,706 which is under our budget of £2,961,082. These leaves us some wiggle room should any players need new contracts in the near future.

I’m trying to keep a tight purse string on our wages. If left unchecked they can easily spiral out of control.

Season 5 Campaign Kicks Off

Just before we kick-off the new campaign, I was reminded of our expectations this season.

Competition

Expectation

Last Season Finish

Premier League

Challenge for the title

Winners

Champions League

Quarter Final

Quarter Final

FA Cup

Reach Final

Winners

League Cup

Not Important

3rd Round

These are fair expectations all things considered and I’m really looking forward to this year’s campaign. Let’s start as we mean to go on!

Spurs vs Wolves12/8/2023 Premier League

I’ve been a long timer admirer of Portuguese player Florentino Luis but have never opted to bull the trigger on a transfer deal as I feel he’s a little too defensive for my system.

The model citizen joined Spurs this summer in a £52m deal and instantly becomes one of their better players. Other than yet, Spurs have no strengthened.

An away match to start the campaign off is never ideal, but especially against a side like Spurs.

I am sticking with the same first eleven that we used again Arsenal in the FA Community Shield. To get the best of our of Tonali, I am using him in our Deep Lying Playmaker role while Neves will be alongside him in an Advanced Playmaker role. While Neves is best suited to the DLP, he does have to attributes to make for a quality AP. I will monitor this closely over the next few games.

Another fantastic performance. While it’s early days, Goncalves is really putting on a show so far. He has six goal contributions in 2 games. My faith in him is being rewarded.

A strong start from us and I feel this is largely in part due to our squad remaining the same bar a couple of additions. This squad has gelled so well over the years.

Wolves (5th) vs West Ham (9th)19/8/2023 Premier League

Our first home match of the season as we entertain West Ham. Manuel Pellegrini is still in charge at West Ham, keeping them as a mid-table team during this time.

Not much of note before this match other than West Ham will be without star man Felipe Anderson due to an injury.

Another 3-1 win and another brace for Goncalves. He’s already surpassed last season’s tally and we’re only three matches into this campaign. I’m in awe of this lad right now. No doubt our fans have already forgotten about a certain Norwegian. Sandro Goncalves is the new man.

Leicester (7th) vs Wolves (2nd)27/8/2023 Premier League

A dismal season for Leicester last season as they flirted with the idea of relegation by finishing 17th. I’m sure a lot of them would like to make amends this season. They have already beat Spurs in their last outing, and we of course will be careful to what they will have to throw at us.

Just one change today as Vinagre sits out with a tight calf. Augustinsson takes his place.

I was right to be wary of Leicester as they gave us our toughest game of the campaign so far and we succumbed to a 1-0 defeat. There weren’t many great chances in the game but up stepped centre back Jannik Vestergaard, who is not known for his freekick taking ability (11), and banged one in from 25 yards. I was in disbelief.

With only 11 minutes to go, we wouldn’t conjure up a goal and we have to take the defeat on the chin.

Looking Ahead

A good start for our campaign despite the loss. We’ve played some cracking football and have already beat two quality London clubs.

I’m very pleased with how our forwards have started the season, especially Goncalves. A slight cause for concern as our wing-backs Vinagre and Lima haven’t started the campaign in flying form and are making far too many mistakes for my liking.

Three teams lead the pack with 3 wins from 3 while so-called ‘odds on favourites for the title’ Liverpool have already lost two matches.

While Chelsea have won 3 from 3, they have grinded out the results winning each by a one goal margin. Haaland is yet to get on the score sheet. To say that pleases me may be a bit petty, but it will take a while to get over how he left. I wouldn’t be as bothered had he left for a Barcelona or Bayern Munich, but for Europa League Chelsea? That hurts.

Cup Draws

For the Champions League this season we were, to my delight, seeded in pot 1. This gives us the best chance of getting an ‘easier’ group.

Inter, Anderlecht and Red Bull Salzburg have been drawn into our group. On paper I am very happy with this. Inter Milan of course being the biggest threat in the group.

Elsewhere, Arsenal have it toughest as they face Barcelona, Dortmund and A.C Milan in the ‘group of death’. I do not envy them right now.

Domestically, the league cup has been drawn, and we are to face Spurs in an away trip. While already beating them comfortably this season, I would have quite liked to avoid a Premier League team so early on.

Double Delight

It’s not gone unnoticed by those giving out awards as Sandro Goncalves scoops up both young player and player of the month awards for the league.

I’m glad his exploits in front of goal are being rewarded – long may it continue!

September Fixtures

A busier month ahead for fixtures as we battle it out in three competitions. The league cup will give me a good opportunity to play some more of the fringe players.

Goncalves and Cutrone will continue their partnership as they impressed in the first month.

If there is anything within the save you would like to see, drop a comment below and I will add it in the next episode.

As always, thank you for reading. Please share with your friends, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for the latest updates; @ExtraTimeFM.

Scouting is an ongoing process. It never stops. I always make sure I have 100% knowledge on a player. If it’s mid season, I will scout them for a few matches too.

The transfer windows always throws up surprises with people being listed and such. Ensure you keep you scouting network as deep as you possibly can. Always keep recruiting the best people for the job.

I’ve been using the same formation with Wolves for 5 years now. It’s become second nature to know what kind of player I’m looking for. That helps a lot. For example I can completely disregard any wingers or inside forwards as I never use them. It streamlines the process.